Vein glue was supposed to be the gentler option. A comparison of 511 patients published this year suggests that the trade-off is more complicated than the sales pitch, and that the reactions the adhesive causes come in patterns doctors can now name and time.
Researchers reporting in the Journal of Vascular Surgery: Venous and Lymphatic Disorders reviewed 300 patients treated with cyanoacrylate closure and 211 treated with thermal ablation for saphenous vein incompetence. Skin and soft tissue reactions serious enough to require oral medication or surgery occurred in 34 of the glue patients (11%), compared with 8 of the heat patients (4%). The gap was statistically significant. Baseline characteristics were similar between the groups, and no severe systemic reactions occurred in either. The work was presented at the 37th Annual Meeting of the American Venous Forum in Atlanta.
